From the beginning of recorded time,
music, in some form or another, has always been of great importance
to mankind. Whether we are discussing an opera conducted by Mozart
or Robert Johnson and his blues, the concept that music is valued
greatly by society stays the same. As we reflect back on the 20th
century, it is clear that popular music has changed quite a bit
through that time in history. Although, American popular music of
the 20th century was formed by those from the 19th century. With
slavery came Africans who had unique styles of playing music that
clearly had an enormous impact on music as we know it, such as
drumming style and use of hidden meaning. Eventually, slavery ended
and African Americans found themselves creating the blues to help
them through the hard times of segregation. Blues was sped up and
commercialized to evolve into jazz. Jazz went through its different
phases and developed into rock and roll. It is rock and roll that we
know best today. In its infancy, rock and roll was much different
than it is now, but what remains the same is its genuine purpose,
which is to have a good time and make a statement. Now one must
wonder if it was possible to put on a concert, or rather, a festival
that would stand for everything that is rock and roll in a very
positive and productive way.

Well, a couple “hippies” by the names of
Joel Rosenman and John Roberts thought of a way to do just that,
during the late 60’s. It came to be called Woodstock ‘69, a three
day music festival filled with all things pleasurable, most notably
sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Although there was a lot of drugs,
and a number of mishaps, like rain, food shortages, and a few
deaths, all in all Woodstock ’69 accomplished a lot in the big
picture. In fact, I believe that Woodstock of 1969 was the most
important event of popular music as we know it, in the 20th century.
For one, it exemplified diversity working at its best. There were
almost 500,000 attendees, all of whom had varying statuses. One
might also say that Woodstock re-invented the way concerts and
festivals are held, that is, the mix of music and endless fun all in
one huge package. Until then, there had never been such a large
event. So is it its sheer size that it is most remembered for or is
it remembered because it is the most definitive event in the history
of rock and roll?

As for diversity, most people now think
that most of the attendees were long-haired “hippies,” and many
were, but many weren’t. It is hard to describe the level of
diversity that was accomplished. In an interview with Chris, who
actually attended Woodstock ‘69, said “The concert brought together
a diverse group of people , mainly young, black and white, rich and
poor, middle class, artists, gays, straights, the ideologically
dispossessed, philosophers, gurus, hedonists, bikers, Christians,
Buddhists, atheists etc. who all shared the common bond of
alienation and angst that pervaded a society struggling to come to
grips with a undercurrent of revolution, rejection of all authority,
a crumbling of it’s institutions and a new world order where freedom
of expression, creativity, acceptance of diversity, and equality was
fermenting a new consciousness in the crucible of righteous
rebellion toward war, overt capitalism and civil inequality.” It’s
already hard enough to get all these different people into a place
where they all have a common interest. They then also all have to
get along the entire duration for it to be a successfully diverse
event, and with a crowd of almost 500,000, many had predicted that
crowd control would be a big problem. As I read in an article
written weeks after Woodstock, these music fans never fought, the
most the guards had to do was tell the skinny-dippers to keep at
least the minimum amount of clothes on for the video recording crew,
it might be because most of them were skinny-dipping at least
slightly stoned. (Herald Times) After this is all said about
diversity, no moment is more powerful than when almost 500,000
highly diverse, mud soaked, food and sleep deprived Americans
gathered to hear “The Star Spangled Banner” played by none other
than the event headliner and guitar legend, Jimi Hendrix.

Although, Woodstock 69 will never be
duplicated, it did set standards for how rock concerts should be.
So, in a way it reinvented the way concerts should be held. As I
read in one book, until then, the largest event known held only had
around 150,000 attendees, with much less chaos. (Tiber) An analogy
might be, when you give a dog fillet mignon, he won’t like it when
you start giving him dog food again. There developed a certain level
of expectation. There had never been anything quite like Woodstock.
The artists that played there are now put on a special pedestal in
time as legends, which means when a big event is being judged, it is
Woodstock 69 that it is to be compared to, as well as the artists.
And were talking about artists like Janis Joplin, Country Joe
McDonald, and bands like Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family
Stone, and The Grateful Dead. Creating a bench mark for anything is
essential for positive growth. It is kind of like how society uses
deviance to create norms; Woodstock was the best and now we must
compare other events to it, creating a goal of musical evolution. As
Chris stated, “this group was a potential goldmine who would become
the movers and shakers of the future.” As a result, Woodstock has
set a precedent for the future musicians and fans alike to work
towards duplicating it, even though duplicating Woodstock is an
impossible goal. While trying to look back at the roots of rock and
roll, it’s hard to think of an event or moment that was as
definitive as Woodstock 69. In the early days of popular music as
far back as the blues, Americans have used music to get through the
hard times. Woodstock is about everything, whether pleasurable or
not. Rock and roll derives from the blues, which seems to come off
as depressing music, but its not meant to be. As I read once in my
book from my rock and roll class, the blues is meant to give the
artist and the listener hope and to stay positive. (Kastin)
Ultimately, the blues covers pleasurable topics and not pleasurable
topics. This is seen in rock and roll a lot. “Woodstock was a unique
event where historic, emotional, sociological, and spiritual
consciousness was forged against the backdrop of a musical event of
grand proportion. All the components came together at just the right
time in history,” explained Chris. One thought to consider is that,
rock and roll, collectively, is about everything an American
endures; the good times and the bad times. All that we endure in a
lifetime doesn’t is not worth a thing if the values, beliefs, and
general good nature of Woodstock is not grasped within that
lifetime. As you can see, Woodstock was very beneficial, aside from
the obvious mishaps. Diversity beliefs were strengthened by bringing
together people with all different ethnic backgrounds, religions,
and beliefs. And it did this in great numbers, almost 500,000
concert goers participated. Woodstock reinvented how concerts should
be presented, as it reminded the listeners why they were there, for
the music and peace. These two things are vitally important to
civilization as a whole. Finally, it acted as a definitive moment in
rock and roll history, because it represented everything that is
“rock and roll.” So, in my opinion, Woodstock is the most important
event of popular music as we know it, in the 20th century.

The Woodstock - Preservation Archives uses sights and sounds of this
historical event copyrighted by individuals and corporations, and is protected under code 17 U.S.C. Â§ 107 (1988 ed. and Supp. IV),known
as the Fair Use Provision.